The Thunderstorm
by Agent Pumpkin
Summary: A thunderstorm awakens Cilan's sense of adventure...  HAPPY WISHFULSHIPPING DAY EVERYONE! :D


**Hey guys. I thought I'd make a Wishfulshipping story in tribute to Wishfulshipping day! I'm taking a little break from "The Locket" in order to write this, but the next chapter is being worked on, so don't worry!**

**Note: I was listening to Owl City while I wrote this, so it may be a little random. :) But hey, it's still Wishfulshipping. :)**

**The theme is dreams. **

**Uh, it's a little deep, so it may be a little out of character, but I tried my best to keep them IN character. Hope they're not too OOC! And Pansage is asleep in this one; he's not in it. :)**

**~Jess~**

Thunder glistened in the sky, lighting up the world below with a brief yet beautiful streak of light and the tiny pitter-patter of rain decended gently to the earth below, despite the heavy rumble of thunder deep down in the distance.

"Iris, you look tired. Maybe you should sleep?" Cilan suggested quietly in the dark of the night, some stray raindrops hitting his face and trickling down in a small, river-like dribble.

"No. I'm wide awake Cilan." She replied simply, though her eyes were glowing with sparks of interest as she watched the seemingly violent lightening crash on the dirt beneath them. The terrifyed cries of distant pokemon filled Cilan's ears and he grimaced noticably. He hated it when pokemon screeched; it not only made his ears ache but made him think that they could be in any sort of danger when out in the wild like that. It also made him feel grateful for poke-balls - The only thing that kept his beloved partner from being soaked and shivering in a crumpled ball at his feet. Most useful.

"But Ash has a gym battle tomorrow. And he'll need all the support he can get; I've heard although Elesa is shy personality- wise, she has an unpredictable recipe for combat and a suprising ounce of spice within her battle stratergy." He explained calmly, still having the energy to watch Iris stare up at the stars that were twinkling weakly against the beaming energy of the luminous electricity that was shooting from the sky.

However, Iris rolled her eyes and didn't reply. She wasn't fussed, and deep down, she knew that Cilan wasn't either. He simply pretended to be; he was the best actor that she had ever met. He could hide anything he wanted to but she had gotton to the point in which she knew that he knew that she knew him better than that. Despite the fact that Iris had simply ignored him and his "reasoning" Cilan found it strangely endearing and smiled at the back of her head to himself.

"Cilan, do you want the truth?" She questioned, still not turning to face him.

"The truth would be nice, Iris." He nodded earnestly.

"I don't care." She retorted simply, tilting her head briefly, allowing her eyes to flicker at him with honesty. Then, turning back to the stars, she let out a sigh and fiddled with her Axew's clawed arms restlessly.

"You... Don't care enough to give me the truth?" Cilan breathed, feeling his heart wrench. Her head suddenly whirled around and she shook it harshly.

"No no! I don't care about his gym battle. In fact, I can't even pretend to, because it honestly doesn't strike me as important compared to what you can experiance without all of the difficulties of training." She immediately explained and relaxed thouroughly when she saw Cilan breath a sigh of relief and then smile up at her. Nodding slowly, she twisted her body and offered a hand.

"Huh?" He asked, starring at her eyes and then at her hand that was hanging limply in front of him quizzically.

"Well, come and talk to me, silly." She giggled quietly, beckoning the inquistive Connoisseur with her dark fingers. "It takes two to chat." She grinned. Cilan closed his eyes and chuckled, before he returned her grin and gripped her hand tenderly, allowing her to help him up to her perch. Once his legs were securely wrapped around the branch, she let go and allowed him to adjust himself into a more comfortable position. Cilan silently marvelled at how well their skin mingled together; his pale atop her dark complexion.

"Iris, just out of curiosity, what did you mean before? When you were speaking of things that you could experiance without the strainious practices of training?" Cilan enquired, peering at her with a gentle stare, his eyes stained with a want for informtaion.

"Well..." Iris began, before she pointed a graceful finger upwards. "Look at this, Cilan."

Cilan, although confused, peeped upwards and was greeted with a gorgeous sight. The crackling and fizzing of the petitie jolts of bright lightning was enough to fill his mind with wonder and the low boom of the thunder made him realise that he wasn't that far from a very drastic storm, his heart thumping against his ribcage and his senses were very alert. He could not only see the lightning but smell the burning aftermath of the tempormental sparks. He could not only hear the thunderous bang of the thunder, but feel the anger and pent up hatred of the night sky as it unleashed it's fiery fury uncontrolably.

"It's a thunderstorm..." He breathed, turning back to Iris.

"Well yes, but don't you think it's beautiful?" She asked, a small smile etched into his face as she continued to spectate the dark abyss of sky.

"Yes. Simply breathtaking..." He beamed at her, his four flicks of green quivering in the gushing wind, even through the shelter of the trees thick leaves and hard, full branches. Gingerly, he reached a hand up and stroked them back, before he let them go again and felt them spring up again which caused him to chuckle remotely.

"I suppose you're right, Iris." Cilan confessed, turning his currently seated body to face her. She mimicked, facing him and gave a proud grin.

"Of course I'm right. I'm not a little kid like he is!" She replied confidently, gesturing with her eyes at the sleeping raven-haired boy, before placing a hand just over her chest and letting the determination glisten in her bright brown eyes.

"Right." Cilan chuckled to himself, eyeing her tenderly. The thunder was begining to die down now and what once was ravenous streaks of light, had dwindled down to nothing more than a meek flicker that momentairaly brightened the sky gently. The stars now appeared much brighter as they didn't have to compete with the invasive precense of the lightening and the moon was shown as the dark clouds that had encirlcled the sky began to drift away aimlessly.

"Y'know Cilan, when you and I are alone, I've never actually felt so... Safe." Iris smiled, choosing her words carefully, afraid of either upsetting or overwhelming the unsuspecting Connoissuer.

"Likewise Iris. Your company is truly unique. I-I like our time together. It's a real shame that there isn't more of it." Cilan sighed truthfully, his eyebrows arching in a saddened phase though his kind smile still remained on his pale face. The rain suddenly stopped entirely, but a few specks of liquid still lingered on Cilan's face but he ignored them. Iris however, didn't, as she reached a timid hand forward and wiped the water away with a shaking finger. His eyes followed her finger as it fell back to her side and she cleared her throat awkwardly, rotating her head to the right, facing the thick trunk of the tree instead of Cilan's inquisitive face.

Gently extending an arm and gripping her shoulder, Cilan turned her back to look at him and he closed his eyes. "Thank you."

"Y-You're welcome." Iris stuttered weakly, though a vibrant smile existed undeniably on her tanned face. The two then nodded to each other and then turned back to watch the late-night stars and planets whirr excitedly.

"I'm going to make a hammock." She abruptly remarked into the silence of the open air. Then, getting to her feet, she didn't hesitate to climb the thick trunk and she did so with speed and ease.

"Be careful." He shouted after her, although his voice was controlled and so even his "shout" was only just loud enough to reach Iris' ears but it didn't seem to matter anyway, because she didn't respond. Cilan peered upwards and saw where she was going. To the top of the tree, where huge leaves, even bigger than himself, resided in the moonlit atmosphere, the leaves shimmering in the natural light.

_"She's very smart..." _Cilan thought to himself and felt the soltitude of her company slowly begin to fade as she progressed further up the colossal plant.

The quiet gentleman spotted a bright shooting star stride across the sky with a piercing burst of energy. His eyes widened a fraction as he watched it disappear into the darkness, the pitch black sky that was once irritating now held a strange, indecipherable beauty. On that admittedly, he'd never experianced before.

"Cilan?" Someone asked.

"Hmm..." He hummed, still not completely amongst his awareness as his vision swayed slightly from staring for so long at nothing. His mind, normally logical and quick to think had simply discarded it's need for knowledge and switched off, allowing Cilan to enjoy whatever he could feel at that one moment. It had never happened before and he honestly didn't know that not thinking could feel that... _Amazing._

"Cilan!" The voice hissed, though it was not angry, only urgent.

"Hmm, what? What?" He blinked, shaking his head from side to side to rid himself of his dazed state of mind. When his vision steadied, he saw Iris blinking at him, a confused expression on her face.

"You need to move so that I can tie it here!" Iris then urged, already trying to get him to move by gently shoving his arm. Chuckling, Cilan scooted cautiously across the branch, allowing Iris to finish her job.

"Wait, tie what?" He quizzed stupidly, blinking in uncertainty.

"The hammock. Duh!" She mocked, tapping her head twice with her index finger as she teased him lightly. He grinned bashfully and suddenly felt incredibley dense but still continued to gaze at her busy fingers. Sheepishly, he listened to her voice as she told Axew to scratch the leaf into a more comfortable shape and scoffed to himself, suprised that he hadn't offered that suggestion to her.

_"Come on Cilan, catch up..." _He told himself sternly, feeling the weight of responsibility squash his ability to think straight. He should have known that and yet he hadn't helped her with it. He felt like a fool and scolded himself for not coming to her aid. But maybe he didn't have to. He hadn't exactly thought about that factor of things. In fact, he hadn't really thought about alot tonight. He supposed that time simply flew by when he was spending time with someone he liked to spend time with.

"Come on Cilan!" He heard discreetly.

"Huh?"

"There's room for two." Iris beamed at him, patting the empty space beside her with a somewhat devious grin. He hesitated briefly.

"Iris, I don't think that that's a good idea."

"Why not?" She voiced innocently, genuinely curious as to why the young green haired man was so cautious regarding something that needed no thought. It's not like there was a problem to solve; it was a simple query.

"I just - What if Ash were to see?"

"So? What if Ash were to see?" Iris challenged, her Axew sensing a wall of rising tension between the two and readily retreating into her violet locks.

"Well, I just thought it would be a little strange." Cilan weakly protested, though confusion was evident in his tone of voice, despite it being a low whisper.

Adopting a flat countenance, Iris sighed and inhaled again, deeper this time.

"What I mean is, there's nothing to see Cilan. Just two friends hanging out." She smiled tenderly at him. Cilan noted that his heart ached slightly when she called him just "a friend". He knew that he had always had sepearate feelings for Iris but had never had the courage to act on those emotions that he could feel brewing in the pit of his stomach.

"I- I suppose..." He started, appearing to still be thinking things through. Therefore it came as a great suprise to him when he felt a hand roughly tug the edge of his pajama sleeve and he stumbled forwards clumsily, which was strange seen as though his normal, everyday actions were filled with grace and flamboyance.

"Great!" Iris grinned, yanking him in next to her and the patting him down as if in apology. The hamock swung unsteadily, but then soon adjusted to the extra weight and slowly expanded itself again.

"Wow, this leaf is strong. What type of leaf is it?" He questioned Iris. She giggled softly.

"I don't know. I just know that it's strong enough to hold two - maybe three - people." She answered, although she seemed not interested in the conversation they were currently having. Instead, she looked captivated by the mesmerising display in the dark night sky. Deciding not to talk anymore, he just gazed at the sky in silent anticipation; he knew of the kinds of things that one could see if they watched the sky for long enough, whether it be glittery constellations or the soft whirl of planets. He longed to see a real planet and realised that really, from down where he was looking up, he wasn't all that far away, give or take a few meters.

"Wouldn't you just love to fly Cilan?" He suddenly heard and the question sounded foreign rather than unexpected.

"What do you mean?" He asked, turning his head to the left as to look at her face, which was carefully being cradled by the late-night moonbeams.

"To fly, Cilan. Wouldn't it be good?" She repeated, keeping her bright brown eyes fixated on the sky.

"Well, we have planes and -"

"No, no. I mean just to suddenly take off whenever you just need to get away from everything. I know for one thing that I'd love it." She grinned to emphasise her explanation.

"But it's impossible." Cilan whispered to her, his eyes adverting to peer at her curiously.

"Pfft, where's your sense of adventure, Cilan?" Iris teased, tapping his chest playfully. Cilan didn't reply. Where had it gone? It'd always been there before and evey time he checked, he would always find himself scolding his inner self because he would still find traces of childish tendancies lurking about deep within his heart. His mind flitted to his brothers and what trouble the three of them used to get into when they were just "gentlemen in training". Looking back now, they didn't do too well in their early years of learning how to become "decent people"!

"Honestly, I'm not sure." He breathed out into the open air.

"It wouldn't take long to find it." She remarked simply, as if it was the most obvious thing to do in the world.

"And how would I do that Iris?" Cilan questioned skeptically.

"Well, just do something you couldn't see yourself doing. Do something so crazy, you just... Let go, if you know what I mean?" She clarifyed, waving her arms around as she described what to do. Cilan watched her every movement made by her dark arms and smiled in amusement.

_"I know what I should do." _Cilan smiled to himself, before it turned into a slightly worried frown. What if it didn't go as he planned? And what would her reaction be?

Despite these thoughts, he felt his head move down on it's own accord and his mouth gently touch hers. He shyly moved his lips against hers and felt his heart beat wildly in his chest, as if two people were playing volleyball with it. He was sure it was about to skid out of the court and straight out of his chest any second now but continued to do what he was doing, praying that he was doing it correctly. He had never kissed anyone before, the feeling still new and exciting to him.

Iris blinked rapidly as she tried to comprehend the situation but failed miserabley and she felt her mind switch off, a pleasant numbness making itself welcome in her mind.

The kiss was only a few seconds long, but to the pair of them, it felt like an eternity had passed them; like the start of a whole new age had began and they were still stuck in this single moment. Nevertheless, Iris began to react properly and Ciolan was getting more than comfortable with the exhilerating rush that was running laps around his body.

Pulling apart, Cilan grinned dopily and stroked her face with the back of his hand, her skin feeling soft and inviting, but cold to the touch.

"Wh-What was that?" Iris managed to stutter, a dark streak of red striding across her face and illuminating her face in the black of the night.

"Well, I - I can explain." Cilan mumbled, suddenly feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Please do." Iris continued, although a devilish smirk was spread lazily across her face, unbeknowst to the Connoisseur as his head was hung low as he tried to hide the hot blush that was begining to form around his cheeks.

"I just took your advice, Iris." Cilan said, swallowing thickly.

"Hmm? Explain."

"Well, I did something that I didn't see myself doing and I did something so crazy that I just let go of everything." Cilan recieted, his voice hushed for fear of wavering. He allowed a lop-sided grin to form on his face as he peered down at her.

It was Iris' turn to grin. She reached out and grabbed his pale white hand with her own warm, brown one, squeezing it in an encouraging manner which caused him to look up at her with a sheepish smile.

Then, she laughed and stroked his hair, tucking a loose flick behind his ear, before she said:

"And hey, you found your adventure..."

**HAPPY WISHFULSHIPPING DAY EVERYONE! :D :D :D :D :D :D **


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